Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) established its fields for the WPIAL/UPMC Sports Medicine Boys’ Golf Individual Championships on Friday, with 186 student-athletes qualifying through section tournaments held on Sept. 16-18.
 
Student-athletes competed in seven different sections in Class 3A and nine different sections in Class 2A. Each section tournament had its own unique target score based on the golf course, with student-athletes needing to finish at or below that number to qualify for the WPIAL Championships. There are 81 schools that will be represented at the WPIAL Boys’ Golf Individual Championships.
 
Both classifications’ reigning champions have since graduated, but their runners-up return in Upper St. Clair senior Connor McKenzie and Quaker Valley senior Ethan Dai. Class 3A has 10 golfers who previously qualified for the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Boys’ Golf Individual Championships in their careers, and Class 2A returns six.
 
The Class 3A field of 110 includes 51 student-athletes who previously qualified for the WPIAL Championships. From that group, 16 golfers will be making their third WPIAL appearances, and seniors Nick Haught (Peters Township), Christopher Hoffman (North Allegheny), Wes Lorish (Plum), Colton Lusk (Peters Township), McKenzie, and Ben Miller (Peters Township) have punched their WPIAL Championships ticket in all four of their varsity seasons.
 
The Class 2A group of 76 qualifiers features 32 student-athletes who return to the WPIAL Championships for a second time. There are 10 golfers appearing in their third WPIAL Championships, and seniors Dai, Ryan Frohlich (Shady Side Academy), Severin Harmon (Sewickley Academy), and Josh Nesky (South Allegheny) completed a four-year sweep of section qualification. Dai and Harmon both have qualified for the PIAA Championships in each of their previous three seasons.
 
Winning or sharing section medalist honors in Class 3A were Kiski Area junior Max Mottura (Section I), Greater Latrobe junior Jack Sacriponte (Section I), Belle Vernon junior Jordan Mocello (Section II), North Allegheny junior Preston Troiano (Section III), Lorish (Section IV), Baldwin sophomore Michael Quallich (Section V), South Fayette junior Sam Bishop (Section VI), and Fox Chapel sophomore Carson Kittsley (Section VII). Bishop and Lorish both won section championships last season.
 
In Class 2A, the section medalists were Freeport senior Stephen Evans (Section I), Greensburg Salem freshman Luke Sikora (Section II), McGuffey freshman Josh Rusmisel (Section III), Our Lady of the Sacred Heart junior Jonah Schollaert (Section IV), Ellwood City junior Nate Kennedy (Section V), Beaver sophomore Derek Hughes (Section VI), Nesky (Section VII), Shady Side Academy senior Landon Mauser (Section VIII), and Harmon (Section IX). Evans and Schollaert both collected their second section medalist honors.
 
Last season, Penn-Trafford’s Nick Turowski posted a two-round total of 142 (-2) to win the Class 3A title by five strokes over McKenzie, while Frazier’s Nixen Erdely carded a 142 (-1) over 36 holes to best Dai by two strokes for the Class 2A crown.
 
The WPIAL/UPMC Sports Medicine Boys’ Golf Individual Championships are played in a two-round format. Class 2A will tee off at Youghiogheny Country Club on Monday, Sept. 23, and Class 3A begins at Southpointe Golf Club on Tuesday, Sept. 24. Both classifications’ top 36 finishers in the first round, including ties, will move onto their respective final rounds, where their first round scores will carry over.
 
Class 3A will crown its champion at Oakmont Country Club on Tuesday, Oct. 1, and Class 2A will hand out medals at Sewickley Heights Golf Club on Wednesday, Oct. 2. The top 14 finishers in Class 3A and top 18 finishers in Class 2A will move onto the PIAA Boys’ Golf Individual Championships, which will be held on Oct. 21-22 at Penn State Golf Courses.
 
CHAMPIONSHIP CAPSULE
Class 3A Dates & Locations: Sept. 24 at Southpointe Golf Club (First Round), Oct. 1 at Oakmont Country Club (Final Round)
Class 2A Dates & Locations: Sept. 23 at Youghiogheny Country Club (First Round), Oct. 2 at Sewickley Heights Golf Club (Final Round)
Amount of Qualifiers: 186 (110 in Class 3A, 76 in Class 2A)
Reigning Class 3A Champion: Nick Turowski, Penn-Trafford – 142 (-2)
Reigning Class 2A Champion: Nixen Erdely, Frazier – 142 (-1)
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• 1938: The first season that the WPIAL held a boys’ golf individual championship, which was won by Turtle Creek’s John Barkovich.
• 110: The number of qualifiers in the Class 3A field, which is the most for Class 3A / Division I in at least 27 seasons. This is just the fourth time since 1997 that Class 3A has had 100 or more student-athletes qualify for the championships, with the previous times being 2008 (109), 2011 (102), and 2016 (100).
• 95: The number of professional wins accumulated by Arnold Palmer, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest golfers in history. Palmer, a 2007 WPIAL Hall of Fame inductee, captured back-to-back WPIAL and PIAA championships in 1946 and 1947.
• 83: The number of student-athletes in the 2024 fields that have previously qualified for the WPIAL Boys’ Golf Individual Championships.
• 53: The number of schools who have boasted at least one WPIAL boys’ golf individual champion.
• 12: The number of student-athletes who have won two or more WPIAL boys’ golf individual championships.
• 9: The number of times since 1997 that a playoff was needed to determine the WPIAL boys’ golf individual champion. The most recent instances came in 2017, when Moon’s Chris Sabol and Riverside’s Skyler Fox both captured their respective classifications’ titles in a playoff.
• 7: The number of WPIAL boys’ golf individual championships won by Fox Chapel student-athletes, a league record. The Foxes won in 1974, 1975, 1976, 2006, 2014, 2016, and 2019.
• 3: The number of WPIAL boys’ golf individual championships won by Brentwood’s Ron Schwarzel, Fox Chapel’s Frank Fuhrer III, and Riverside’s Skyler Fox. The trio share the league record, with Schwarzel winning from 1952 to 1954, Fuhrer three-peating from 1974 to 1976, and Fox taking home gold from 2016 to 2018.
• 2: The number of multi-time WPIAL boys’ golf individual champions who did not win in consecutive seasons. Turtle Creek’s John Barkovich won gold in 1938 and 1940, and Penn-Trafford’s Nick Turowski claimed the title in 2021 and 2023.

CLASS 3A SECTION CHAMPIONS
Section I: Max Mottura (11), Kiski Area; Jack Sacriponte (11), Greater Latrobe
Section II: Jordan Mocello (11), Belle Vernon
Section III: Preston Troiano (11), North Allegheny
Section IV: Wes Lorish (12), Plum
Section V: Michael Quallich (10), Baldwin
Section VI: Sam Bishop (11), South Fayette
Section VII: Carson Kittsley (10), Fox Chapel
 
CLASS 2A SECTION CHAMPIONS
Section I: Stephen Evans (12), Freeport
Section II: Luke Sikora (9), Greensburg Salem
Section III: Josh Rusmisel (9), McGuffey
Section IV: Jonah Schollaert (11), Our Lady of the Sacred Heart
Section V: Nate Kennedy (11), Ellwood City
Section VI: Derek Hughes (10), Beaver
Section VII: Josh Nesky (12), South Allegheny
Section VIII: Landon Mauser (12), Shady Side Academy
Section IX: Severin Harmon (12), Sewickley Academy

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